The wellbeing services counties are actively seeking solutions for improving social welfare and health care services
A significant number of social welfare and health care personnel in the public sector will retire in the coming years, which will further complicate the personnel shortage in the wellbeing services counties – which have now been up and running since the beginning of the year – and the availability of services for the population. THL has published a national specialist assessment of the organisation of social welfare and health care services in Finland. The assessment comprehensively describes the initial situation of the wellbeing services counties.
Wellbeing services counties are actively seeking solutions to promote access to services, financial management and a sufficient amount of personnel. The counties’ budgets for 2023 have mainly been drafted in deficit, and the preparation of financial management programmes has begun.
Solutions to the difficult situation are sought by developing operating practices and electronic services and reforming service networks. The wellbeing services counties will continue the investments initiated by hospital districts and municipalities, meaning that hospital construction will continue actively in the coming years, among other things.
In many places, personnel shortages and the care and service debt incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic are hampering the timely availability of both basic and specialised services.
The situation is particularly difficult for vulnerable population groups. For example, older people’s access to home care and housing services has become more difficult.
Increased mental health problems affecting children and young people challenge the service system and access to timely help
Social welfare and health care services are still poorly accessible in many places. There are more people waiting for specialised medical care than before, and the waiting time for non-urgent care has grown.
For years, the increased amount of anxiety and depression among young people and the rising number of child welfare notifications have grown the demand for services at both the basic and the specialised level.
The number of children and adolescents who have waited for psychiatric treatment for more than three months has increased fivefold over the past two years. In child welfare, the maximum number of clients per social worker was exceeded in 15 wellbeing services counties in November 2022.
Further need to strengthen the integration integration of services
The diversification of problems in different customer groups has further increased the need for the stronger integration of services. In most wellbeing services counties, the integration of basic and specialised services is still implemented in a point-based and fragmented manner.
In primary health care, the continuity of care for people with multiple illnesses has deteriorated. On the other hand, multiprofessionalism has improved, and factors such as the increasing number of family centres in wellbeing services counties will improve the availability of multidisciplinary services.
Additional information
Performance Assessment of the Social Welfare and Health Care System (In Finnish)
Nina Knape
Director of Assessment
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
[email protected]
tel. +358 29 524 7683
